What Link Said
by JLongtain
Summary: A short story in short chapters exploring what one of the many incarnations of Link might have said while exploring a dungeon. If you'd like to see cover art for each chapter, you can visit my blog. Just google "JLMicrostories"
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - New to Dungeons

Link crossed the visual threshold separating cavern and dungeon. The natural stone walls stopped abruptly and hewn walls opened into a rectangular room. The flat, featureless stone floor became an amalgamation of tiles quite suddenly and all but seamlessly.

"So this is a dungeon," said Link.

"Yep," said his fairy companion. She floated beside him, descending very slowly as if in water, and ascending again when she flapped her wings once.

Link's steps echoed in the silent room. It had taken him most of the day to climb to the top of the volcano they were now in. Once there, he was able to drop down onto a stone platform suspended well above an enormous pool of lava. From there, he just had to cross a stone bridge to a kind of plateau that emerged and projected upwards above the magma. Other than the extreme heat and the menacing red hue everything had, the architecture was elaborated quite finely.

"Alright." Link let his voice echo along with his footsteps as they approached a single, large door at the end of the chamber. "Let's do this!"

"We should probably look for a map around here."

"A map? Who'd put a map around here?" The pair had reached the small but wide set of stairs that led up to the dungeon's entrance and stopped there.

"Hey, I'm just programmed to give you the same information over and over again. How should I know who'd put a map here, where they'd put it, or why?"

Link turned to look at his winged sidekick. The confusion that drowned his mind prevented him from speaking for a few seconds.

"What?"

"We should probably look for a map around here."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - The Gist**

"So the gist of this," said Link as he jumped onto a pillar that rose from a moat of molten rock, "is to walk around this ruin, find some keys, a map, a compass, a treasure-slash-weapon, fight little monsters, then their boss-"

"Not necessarily in that order," said the fairy.

"-and get a key item from that boss that will most likely do nothing but occupy space in my bag?"

"Oh," said Navy. She flew behind Link, a little to the side, to look at the bag under his shield. "I'd forgotten you had a bag."

"Why do you think I keep reaching back there when I need something? Or when I want to put things away?"

"It seems convenient."

"It is."

The pillar on which Link stood lowered dangerously close to the magma. The proximity to it made nervousness slither up his spine. He'd made sure that the pillar did not become completely submerged before jumping on it, though. It even sounded like it hit bottom once it was all they way down. Still, rock should not be melted. What would that much heat do to him?

Once up again, Link jumped onto a central platform, circular in form. For some reason, Link thought of this room as the great hall of the dungeon. He walked to the center of the platform to admire it. There was the huge skeleton of an arachnid beast hanging right in front of him, reptilian creatures the size of a small dog dragging their bodies on the floor off to the right, and some goblins that had just noticed him on a naturally formed balcony above him. Sure, it was menacing. But the cavern itself gave off a feeling of wonderment.

"And you say we should start with a map?"

An arrow landed right in front of Link. Its head penetrated the ground and the shaft vibrated as both the fairy and hylian stared at it. Another arrow hit the ground, closer to them. The goblins on the second floor were firing bows. Link put his shield in front of him just in time for an arrow to hit it and break in two.

"I _think_ we should probably look for a map around here."

Link thought it curious that the fairy's words upset him more than the projectiles hitting his shield.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Troglodytes**

Link fled the great hall, jumping on another pillar and immediately to the other side, not waiting for it to go down and then up again. He drew his sword and slashed at two of the reptilian dogs sized creatures.

"They're called dodongos," said the fairy.

"OK." Link let the last part of the word drag. "Good to know."

After a few seconds of being cut by the sword, the dodongos exploded. Link mused on what would have happened if he'd stayed there after slashing them, then shook his head and forgot the thought. He ran up to a stone door of average size.

"LInk, touch the door to open it!"

"Just touch it?"

More dodongos came rushing, crawling as best they could with their small, clumsy legs.

"Link, touch the door to open it!"

"_Fine_!"

Link touched the door. It slid up to let him pass and slid back down with a solid _thud_ once he was through.

"Wow," said Link. "Neat."

He turned around to the sight of a hallway. The ceiling was only a few feet above his head and it was lit solely by some sconced torches. It was straight, no turns or deviations whatsoever. Another door stood at the opposite end.

"What are these ruins? They smell really old," said Link.

"It's a dungeon now. It used to be a temple built by an ancient civilization millennia ago to honor their deity."

"Millenia?" Link began to walk to the other door. "As in cavemen?"

"There are many temples like this all across Hyrule. Some are even older and greater than this one."

"Haven't answered me."

"Many have been destroyed by the passing of time. Others lay hidden and will probably not emerge for thousands and thousands of years more. These temples are architectural marvels of vast size, legacies of times immemorial."

They reached the door on the other side. Link took his hand to its rugged surface, but stopped.

"So _troglodytes_ built this?"

"There are many temples like this all across Hyrule..."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Snap**

A new room, new monsters. Link was flanked by two skeletons for the second time this day. Or was it night? He wasn't sure.

"Hey, listen," said the fairy.

"I know they're Stalfos and that I should attack when they drop their guard!" Link slammed his shield against the skeleton behind him and kept the other one at bay with slashes aimed at its head. "Anything else you want to add to that since the last four times you've repeated it?"

She repeated it. No additions.

Link screamed his frustration and rolled back on the floor past the Stalfos. It was quick enough to turn around and put his shield between Link and itself, but Link swept at its feet with his sword. The Stalfos toppled to the floor and Link crushed its head with his boot.

As the fallen enemy dissipated in black smoke, Link grabbed momentum by running four strides before jumping up in the air, sword in two hands over his head. The Stalfos braced itself, shield up. Link landed to its left, dropped to his knees, and swirled around in half a circle to drive his sword between the monster's ribs. He reversed the movement. The sword was tangled with all the bones and the Stalfo's torso went flying all the way across the room. The two halves disappeared in black smoke almost immediately.

"Ah!" Link grunted. He had actually meant to sigh.

A flash of golden light blinded him, but it faded just as suddenly and violently as it had appeared. In its stead stood a chest.

"What in the Twilight just happened?" asked Link

The fairy did not respond.

"What? No programmed words of wisdom this time?"

The fairy kept quiet. Link walked over to the chest and opened it. He took out a key its bottom, which floated and spun slowly just over his hand. A fanfare also came out of nowhere.

"What in the Dark World..." Link turned to his companion. The fairy flew as silent as the room they were in.

"I wonder what door this is for," said Link as they got out of the room by the same door they'd enter it. There didn't seem to be another exit.

After some door searching, they finally came across one with a huge steel-wrought padlock on it. Two chains formed an "X" over the door, the lock right in its intersection.

"You can open locked doors with the keys you find in the dungeon," said the fairy.

Rage turned Link's head slowly to glare at the sprite next to him. It took him several seconds to center her in his sight.

"_No_ _s__#!%!"_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Awakening**

"Let me get this straight," said Link as he stepped out of the room and stoppered a bottle with a fairy inside. "These guys will heal me and will even be friendlier than you although they're mute."

He held the bottle up in front of his face. The fairy inside shone red. She winked her eye and waved at him.

"They'll even revive me if I fall." Link looked at the blue fairy next to him. "I don't even know your name." He reached back and put the bottled fairy in his backpack.

"If you need to rest, you can save the game and return at a later time." The fairy that had been accompanying Link since the beginning of all this flew in circles thrice around Link and disappeared into his cap.

Link raised his finger and opened his mouth. He held this pose for 3 seconds, decided it wasn't worth it, and continued walking to the next room in the dungeon.

_She__thinks__this__is__a__game__? _he thought.

The next room had a kind of trap in it. Link had to hit a crystal switch with his sword. Surprisingly, it didn't break. After activating the switch, a floating platform came up from a dark, black abyss and breached part of the gap to the other side of the room. After first inspection, Link determined he had about five seconds to cross the gap and jump to the other side before the platform fell back down and he was swallowed by the darkness.

Staring at the darkness of the abyss, Link let out a breath that echoed down the blackness. He stared, trying to discern any distortions that sound might cause to help him determine how deep down this enormous pit went. He knew it was futile and eventually realized he was just stalling.

He hit the switch, ran as fast as he could and jumped on the platform, rolled on it, stood up with the momentum and continued running. Three seconds had passed and he was in the middle of the platform. Two, one.

Part of the force of his jump was lost because the platform descended at the same time. He stretched his whole body and reached for the ledge. It was too far. He hadn't made it.

Then he felt stone and made his hand rigid. Link swung from the ledge and used his legs to swing harder and throw them over ledge to pull himself up and roll over on the floor.

Without thinking, he got on all fours and crawled to a chest, hugged it, and gasped several times before relaxing and use the wooden container to stand up.

He opened the chest. An intense golden light came out of it. Link turned his head and groped around to see what was inside. His hand closed on a cylindrical item. The light dimmed. In his hand was the map.

"Hey!" he called out. "Look! I found the map!"

The fairy came out of Link's cap and fluttered around him. She finally stopped and spoke. "If you need to rest, you can save the game and return at a later time."

Again, the fairy hid in Link's cap.

"You know." Link yawned. "That might not be a bad idea."

That very room seemed to be perfectly safe. Link took out his sleeping roll, took off his shield, sword and backpack and lay them next to him. Sleep took him.

Link was suddenly awake, on his feet. His shield, sword, and backpack were on his back again. He was no longer in the room where he found the map, but at the entrance of the dungeon.

"Din's fire take-"

"When you leave to rest, you'll appear at the entrance of the dungeon when you come back," said the fairy.

It had been hundreds and hundreds of years since the monster in the deepest room of the dungeon had been awakened. A wail of torment and despair fell on its ears. This scream stirred memories of when sacrifices were made to it to acquire its favor. Perhaps it was going to happen again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Thoughts**

The good news was Link still had his map, and there was no need to retrace his steps. The amusing news was that the map seemed to be magical in some way. Thanks to it, Link discovered a set of stairs that led to the second floor. Once there, he looked at his map again to discover that it now showed the layout of the second floor. The first had somehow disappeared.

"This is actually pretty practical," he said.

"Like your bag," said the fairy.

_I __think __she__'__s __making __fun __of __me_, thought Link.

_His __bag __really __does __seem __practical_, thought the fairy.

_What __does__ '__programmed__' __even __mean__?_ thought Link.

_I __wish __I __could __speak __more __with __him_, thought the fairy.

_Maybe __she__'__s __forbidden __to __say __more __than __necessary__,_ thought Link.

_He__'__s __right__, __though__. __I __haven__'__t __even __given __him __my __name__,_ thought the fairy

_True__, __haven__'__t __asked __for __her __name __directly__, _thought Link

_What __does__ '__programmed__' __even __mean_? thought Neri

"Could I ask for your name?" said Link.

_Hey__, __I __was __just __thinking __about __giving __it __to __you__,_ thought the fairy. "It's Neri."

"That's a nice name."

They walked in silence for a while. Link kept studying his map. He noticed they were about to enter the balcony area from which the goblins shot at him when he first entered the dungeon.

Link chuckled. "Wanna have a little fun, Neri?"

"Uh... Link! Touch the door to open it."

"I heard yes," said Link. He put the map away, then loosened the string of leather that closed the opening of a small bag hanging from his belt. His hand went in and produced a small bomb. "Hey," said Link in a whisper to get the Neri's attention. "Listen!"

He lit the fuse, opened the door slightly, threw the bomb, and closed the door again. A high pitched growling came a few seconds before the explosion.

"I don't know you, but I found that extremely relieving," said Link as he opened the door.

Neri wasn't sure if she should say anything.

"It wasn't a question. You don't have to say anything."

They walked in the room. Other than the smell of powder, and a chest that Link thought had just appeared, there didn't seem to be anything else.

"It's as big as the one that had the map in it," said Link. He opened the chest, ready for the intense light this time. He took the object out, the fanfare played and the light subsided. It was actually all a nice touch if you were expecting it.

"Look, Neri. It's a compass." Link held it in front of himself. The needle didn't move regardless of the direction he turned.

"That's weird. What's up with this?"

"A compass shows you where you can find unopened chests and the room of the dungeon's boss monster."

"Um. How?"

"A compass shows you where you can find unopened chests and the room of the dungeon's boss monster."

"That's not really useful." Link remembered his map halfway through the sentence. He took it out and saw that small square marks had appeared on it. There was also a skull marker in one of the rooms.

"That's convenient," said Link.

"Like your bag," said Neri.

_She__'__s __mocking __me_, thought Link.

_I __think __we__'__re __getting __along __fine __now_, thought the fairy.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - Fiery Seeds of Burning Doom**

"A slingshot!" said Link as he shot at a dodongo, which exploded. "They couldn't put bow and arrow in that oversized chest. It had to be a slingshot." He shot three goblins in succession, all of them fell after being hit in the head.

"You seem to be a good shot with it," said Neri.

"Imagine me with a bow."

Four keeses, monsters identical to bats, fell in the distance. Neri wasn't even sure they'd seen Link. The little fairy gulped and made it a point to be more open in her conversations with the Hylian.

"What am I supposed to do with this anyway? There's only one more room I have to explore before heading to the boss's lair and I can't get past it because there's webbing all over the door."

"You uh- haven't tried looking in jars or cutting grass to find more things," said the fairy.

Link turned and set his dark blue eyes on the fairy. They seemed duller, somehow. Off in a way. "You're right," he said leadenly. "That might help."

Link walked toward some jars lying in the corner of the room. Neri sighed once she thought he was out of earshot.

It took two rooms with jars, but they finally found some strange seeds. They were a dark red with black spots and felt hot to the touch. Link held one between his thumb and index finger, inspecting it curiously.

"Fire seeds burst into flames when they hit something with considerable force," said Neri. She thought Link twitched after she spoke, but couldn't really tell. He stood up slowly and put the seeds in a pouch carefully, very mindful of his movements, and hung it by his belt.

They walked for a while, not directly to the room blocked by webs. Neri flew behind Link all the while. He was uncharacteristically silent.

They finally came to a room where Link pointedly walked to a group of keeses that were flying around aimlessly. They noticed Link and immediately took off after him. Seven seeds flew. The keeses suddenly burst into flames and fell to the ground as the fire consumed them.

"Heh heh." Link chuckled.

"Wow! Good aim," said Neri.

"Hahahaha."

"Link?"

"_Hahahahahahaha__."_

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha_."_

The distant laughter echoed weakly in the monster's lair. Surely there would be a sacrifice for it soon, after all this time. Its whole body tingled with anxiety, anticipation making it's extremities fidget.

Still, there was something in the laughter. Something that made it retreat a little into the magma pit where it had been sleeping.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 - Nonsensical**

"So you're saying I started laughing maniacally and did not stop until a big spider..."

"Little spider."

"_Big_ spider lowered itself with its web onto my shoulder?"

"Pretty much."

"I don't remember any of that."

"You mean the spider?"

"_Where__?_" Link jerked his head left and right to look at his shoulders and swatted at his arms.

"Where what?"

"Ah... we're here!"

"Where?"

"The spider?" Link looked up and stepped back.

"We're where?" asked the fairy.

"The entrance to the boss' lair."

"Oh!"

"Yeah."

They looked at each other for a few seconds in silence. After that, Link turned away and aimed with his slingshot at the webs that held the enormous skeleton he'd seen when entering the dungeon. The fire seed crashed in a wall near the sticky threads and fire spread quickly and hungrily.

"Let's move back," said Link.

It wasn't long before the huge bone structure fell. The impact shook the ground so hard that Link fell on his backside.

"Wow," said Link.

"Now you can cross to the other side using the skeleton as a bridge."

It was true. The two ends of the skeleton had latched to either side of the magma moat. Its huge spine now served as a connecting path that Link could walk on and finally face the final danger of this dungeon.

But the enormous door that led to the boss' lair was closed and secured by a huge padlock.

"Seriously?" yelled Link. "I'm practically walking towards the open maws of a huge and metaphorical wolf, and they're making it hard for me?"

"You did say you still had a room to check before having your little break down."

"I had no break down."

"Sure you did. Right before the spider..."

"_Where__?_"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 - Funny**

Link touched the door once the padlock had disappeared and the chains shrunk into nothingness. He stared into the next room for a few moments of silence. Neri flew next to him and looked into the Hylian's eyes. They seemed steady, full of resolution. He inhaled deeply, surely taking in the vastness and scope of the epic feat he was about to perform.

"Does it smell funny to you?" said Link. "The lair, I mean. I think it smells funny."

"No. But I've always wondered about that phrase. 'Smell funny.' Did the smell make you laugh?"

"H-uh. Good point."

Link stayed there for a little longer, his apparent confidence never faltering.

"You are going in, right?" said Neri

"I am. In a moment."

Link tried to register any movements or noises that seemed out of place within the chamber. There was nothing unusual about it, for a cavern in volcano, that is. Small, bubbling lava pits were scattered randomly on the floor, and there seemed to be a larger pool of the molten rock in the back, but nothing else.

"Exactly how long is a moment?" asked Neri.

"Fine! I'm going!"

There came the most onerous _thud_ Link had ever heard from behind him. He didn't have to turn around and look at it to know it was the door that had slid down shut.

"I really do wonder how long a moment is," said Neri.

"It's just a word to reference a small amount of time," said Link. He stepped further into the room. It was a bit darker with no light other than the that of the magma, but it still had good visibility.

"Sooo, would you say that anything under a minute might qualify as a moment?"

"Why not the whole minute?" Link looked all around him as he walked to the center of the irregular chamber.

"Because then it would be a minute, not a moment."

"A minute could feel like a moment at times."

The earth shook suddenly. The fiery liquid in the pool at the back of the lair seemed to rise in a dome, but then slipped off the huge monster that was coming out of it. A huge leg slammed out on the edge of the pool and then another. The enormous beast climbed out of the magma slowly and let out a shrill roar. Below it, white letters seemed to fade in.

_Fiery __Pit __Arachnid __GOHMA__, _read Link. "Aaawww, come on! You just know it'll be invulnerable to my fire seeds!"

"You still have the normal seeds," said Neri.

"Yeah, those are sure to come in handy against a 'fiery pit arachnid.'"

Gohma raised one of it's claws and swiped at Link. He deftly jumped back and rolled to get as much space as possible between him and the monster. His shield and sword were already out by the time he stood again.

"Wait," he said. That thing only had one eye and four legs at most. It didn't have a belly, or pincers in it's mouth. "Is that a huge spider?"

"Doesn't look like one."

"So it's not a spider?"

Gohma lunged forward trying to tackle Link. He rolled sideways and out of its way. The monster crashed against the wall.

"What does it matter if it's a spider?" said Neri.

"_I __don__'__t __know __if __I __should __be __afraid __of __it __or __not__!_"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 - The Future**

"You know how you told me to carve that thing's heart out and it was made of crystal?" asked Link as they walked back to the dungeon's entrance. "That was weird."

"How did you feel after breaking it and drinking the content, though?"

"Better than ever. Like I'm _healthier_ somehow."

"We can go to the next dungeon, then," said Neri.

They walked wordlessly for a while. Just outside the dungeon, there was a circle of blue light on the floor.

"You can step into the circle to be teleported out of here," said the fairy.

"Yeah." Link sat on the floor, legs crossed. "Did you just say '_next_ dungeon?'"

"Yep."

"Can't I just go rescue Zelda and be done with it?"

"No..." the fairy paused thoughtfully. " I don't think so. You need seven more pieces of that broken emblem you got after defeating Gohma."

"Seven more dungeons?"

"Give or take. There might be one final dungeon to get to Zelda. But I don't think you'll really get anything from that one, though."

"I don't even know Zelda that well."

"I know. It's too bad you were dragged into all this. We haven't even found that thing that took your bag of rupees yet."

"I got a bigger bag now."

"But you're not really at a point where you can just turn around and forget all this."

Link stared into the blue light of the portal that would take him out of the volcano, he assumed, and allow him to continue his adventure. Stepping into that light would allow him to search out seven more dungeons, fight more monsters, guess at Neri's tips, solve more puzzles. He would go through everything he just went through seven times over.

"Shall we go?" said Neri.

"Sure." Link sniffed. "Let me just..." He leaned to the left. A tear slid down his cheeks as he lied down on his side. "Just let me contemplate my future a little longer."


End file.
